Perpetual calendar and writing instrument holder

ABSTRACT

A perpetual calendar and writing instrument holder is attachable to any convenient surface, such as a telephone instrument body, and has an hollow housing with an opening in its outer peripheral surface. A protuberance extends outwardly from the peripheral surface and contains a passageway therethrough generally tangential to the housing, about 90* from the closest edge of the opening. A rotatable inset is positioned within the housing having a plurality of months disposed about its outer periphery, a selectable one of the months to be fully visible through the opening.

nited States Patent Gem:

[ PERPETUAL CALENDAR AND WRITING INSTRUMENT HOLDER [75] Inventor: WalterC. Ganz, New York, NY.

[73] Assignee: The Chromatic Corporation,

Brooklyn, NY.

22 Filed: Aug.4, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 168,945

[52] US. Cl 40/111, 40/335, 40/336 [51] Int. Cl. G09d 3/06 [58] Field ofSearch 40/334, 335, 358, 111

[56] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,096,248 10/1937 Huston40/111 418,217 12/1889 Paige 40/335 2,029,236 1/1936 Klophaus 40/335[451 June 12,1973

3,462,868 8/1969 Arnett 40/335 Primary Examiner-Robert W. MichellAssistant ExaminerJ. H. Wolff Attorney-Howard C. Miskin [57] ABSTRACT Aperpetual calendar and writing instrument holder is attachable to anyconvenient surface, such as a telephone instrument body, and has anhollow housing with an opening in its outer peripheral surface. Aprotuberance extends outwardly from the peripheral surface and containsa passageway therethrough generally tangential to the housing, about 90from the closest edge of the opening. A rotatable inset is positionedwithin the housing having a plurality of months disposed about its outerperiphery, a selectable one of the months to be fully visible throughthe opening.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PERPETUAL CALENDAR AND WRITING INSTRUMENTHOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION tion. Because of their elaboratenessand degree of complexity, these calendars required relatively largebases,

so that they were normally positioned on a pedestal or desk support.Oftentimes these perpetual calendars had pen holders associated on thesame base. These prior art perpetual calendar devices possessed numerousdrawbacks and disadvantages. Among these drawbacks were their expense,difficulty to manipulate and fabricate, occupying a relatively largeamount of space on a desk, and the complexity, relatively high cost andlimited application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the presentinvention to provide an improved perpetual calendar and writinginstrument holder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedmechanism allowing the current month to be easily visible and easilychanged.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide animproved-perpetual calendar and writing instrument holder, which can bemounted on any convenient surface and which occupies only a relativelysmall space.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide aperpetual calendar and writing instrument holder of the above nature,characterized by its simplicity, reliability, ease of applying to anyconvenient surface, low cost, ruggedness, versatility, and adaptability.v

In a sense the present invention contemplates the provision of aperpetual calendar and writing instrument holder including an outerhousing having a base and a cylinder wall extending transversely theretodefining a volume, said cylindrical wall having an opening thereincommunicating with said volume. A protuberance extends outwardly fromthe cylindrical wall, and has a passageway therethrough, generallytangential to the cylindrical wall. A cylindrical member is rotatablypositioned within said volume adn has an outer cylindrical surfacejuxtapositioned to the inner peripheral surface of said cylindricalwall. Indicia means disposed about the outer surface of the cylindricalmember and selectably adaptable to appear through said opening in saidcylindrical wall in said housing. Means are adapted to rotate about thecylindrical member, and other means retain the member within thehousing. The indicia means is advantageously seven months, each of whichbegins on a different day of the week. Another feature of the improvedperpetual calendar and writing instrument holder is the structure of therotatable means which includes holding means for retaining the rotatablemember within the housing. Also the passageway through the protuberancethrough which the writing instrument is positioned is about 90 and theclosest edge of the opening which allows the opening to be readilyviewed by the user, while holding the writing instrument in a positionso it will not drop or fall from the opening.

The improved calendar and writing instrument holder is reliable,inexpensive, rugged, easy to apply to any convenient surface andoperate, and of great versatility and adaptability BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the calendar and writinginstrument holder embodying the present invention showing a writinginstrument in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along Line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a layout of one form of the calendardis-v posed about theouter peripheral surface of the rotatable member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, whichillustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, referencenumeral 10 generally designates a perpetual calendar and writinginstrument holder which is advantageously formed of a synthetic organicpolymeric resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyvinylchoride, or the like, in any suitable manner. The calendar and writinginstrument holder, in turn, includes an outer housing 12 having a rearbase 14 and a cylindrical wall 16 extending transversely to base 14 anddefining a volume l8. Cylindrical wall 16 has an opening 20 thereinwhich communicates with volume 18. Extending radially outwardly fromwall 16 is a protuberance or extension 22 having a passageway 24threrethrough. Pas sageway 24 is generally cylindrical for receiving awriting instrument, such as a pencil or ball point pen, indicated inphantom as 26 in FIG. 1. Passageway 24 is advantageously tangential tocylindrical wall 16 and, as shown, is about removed from the closestedge 28 of opening 20.

Slideably and rotatably disposed within volume 18 is an inner member 30having a base or front surface 32 and having a cylindrical, peripheralwall 34 extending generally transverse to front surface 32. Cylindricalwall 34 has an outer diameter dimensioned to be slightly less than theinner diameter of outer cylindrical wall 16, such as seen best in FIG.2. Centrally disposed on front plate 32 and coaxial thereto is a knob 36roughened on its outer peripheral surface 38, so as to aid in rotatingmember 30.

Extending generally radially inwardly from the outer edge of peripheralwall 16 are a pair of diametrically opposed fingers 40, which extendbelow the inner diameter of peripheral surface 16, as seen best in FIG.2. The edges of fingers 40 are tapered inwardly, so as to form bevelededges forming retaining surfaces, indicated at 42. Fingers or retainingelements 40 hold inner member 30 in operative position within outermember 12, as seen best in FIG. 2. The outer diameter of peripheral wall34 of inner member 30 is dimensioned to allow free rotation relative towall 16. Disposed about the outer surface of peripheral wall 34 isindicia, which, as shown, takes the form of a series of months, seven ofwhich are shown. These months are dimensioned to be fully disposedthrough opening 20. As illustrated, this indicia is mounted on a strip44 which is of relatively small thickness, as seen best in FIG. 2. Also,if desired, indicia could be molded on the outer surface of wall 34.

As shown, the months on strip 44 are in sequence, with each monthbeginning on an alternate day of the week where, as shown in FIG. 3, thefirst month on the strip, indicated as 46A, begins on a Sunday, month46B begins on a Monday, month 46C begins on a Tuesday, etc. The 31st dayis indicated in a different color or typograph than the other dates,since the 31st may or may not be applicable with the actual month of theyear.

To assemble, the strip containing the months or other indicia ispositioned about the outer peripheral surface of wall 34 of inner member30, and the unit is forced through between stop members 40 to springthese members apart and then allow them to return to their unstressedposition, when inner member 30 is fully disposed within volume 18. Thereturn of arms 40 locks in position and yet allows it to be freelyrotatable within volume 18.

Inner member 30 is rotated by the user rotating a knob 36 to positionthe selected month within opening 20. In other words, if the actualmonth begins on a Tuesday, then month 46C is positioned within opening20. The unit is assembled with an adhesive applied to the rearpanel 14of unit 10. The adhesive can be protected by a suitable covering whichcan be peeled off when ready for use. The unit can be mounted on anyconvenient surface such as a telephone, wall, or the like and thewriting instrument 26 is readily available as well as having the datereadily available.

While the months are shown disposed about the peripheral surface ofinner member 30, if desired, space can be provided for importanttelephone numbers such as police, fire and thelike, which numbers can bewritting in the space and can be quickly selected when needed byrotating knob 36. In this form, rather than the date and the month, aplain piece of paper with lines can be mounted about the outer surfaceof the periphery of inner member 30. Therefore, in the presentinvention, even though perpetual calendar is used, the outer surface ofinner member 30 can be used for placing desired or important telephonenumbers; hence, when used in the claims, the calendar" would alsoemcompass this construction.

Also, while one form of holding member 40 is shown, other forms may beused such as lugs, split cylinder wall construction, and rib, fingers,or the like.

While there has been described a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, it is apparent that many other alterations, omissions andadditions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is: v

l. A perpetual calendar and writing instrument holder for attachment totelephones and the like comprising an'outer cylindrical housingincluding a base defining an end wall having means for attachment to atelephone and a cylindrical peripheral wall extending transverselythereto defining a cylindrical cavity, said cylindrical wall having anopening there defining a window communicating with said cavity means forholding a writing instrument including a protuberance formed with andextending outwardly from said cylindrical wall, said protuberance havinga passageway therein generally tangential to said cylindrical wall forslidably engaging a writing instrument, an inner cylindrical drumrotatably positioned within said cavity and having a peripheral facejuxtaposed to the surface of the cylindrical wall of said outer housing,indicia means disposed about the drum peripheral face and adapted toselectably appear through the opening in the cylindri-.

cal wall of said housing, means adapted to rotate said drum, and meansretaining said drum within said housmg.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said retaining means includes at leastone resilient stop member extending radially inwardly from said outercylindrical wall of said housing and being outwardly flexible inresponse to axial pressure attendant to assembly of said drum andreturnable to its unflexed position when said drum is fully assembled.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said passageway is about from theclosest edge of said opening in the cylihdrica wall of the housing.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said drum further includes a front faceintegrally connected to the drum peripheral face.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said rotating means is a knobpositioned coaxially on the front face of said drum.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said indicia means is a series ofmonths consecutively positioned so that the month begins alternately ondifferent days of the week.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said retaining means is a resilientlypositioned flange extending radially inwardly from the cylindrical wallof said outer members.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein said outer housing and drum are formedof synthetic polymeric resin.

1. A perpetual calendar and writing instrument holder for attachment totelephones and the like comprising an outer cylindrical housingincluding a base defining an end wall having means for attachment to atelephone and a cylindrical peripheral wall extending transverselythereto defining a cylindrical cavity, said cylindrical wall having anopening there defining a window communicating with said cavity means forholding a writing instrument including a protuberance formed with andextending outwardly from said cylindrical wall, said protuberance havinga passageway therein generally tangential to said cylindrical wall forslidably engaging a writing instrument, an inner cylindrical drumrotatably positioned within said cavity and having a peripheral facejuxtaposed to the surface of the cylindrical wall of said outer housing,indicia means disposed about the drum peripheral face and adapted toselectably appear through the opening in the cylindrical wall of saidhousing, means adapted to rotate said drum, and means retaining saiddrum within said housing.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein saidretaining means includes at least one resilient stop member extendingradially inwardly from said outer cylindrical wall of said housing andbeing outwardly flexible in response to axial pressure attendant toassembly of said drum and returnable to its unflexed position when saiddrum is fully assembled.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein saidpassageway is about 90* from the closest edge of said opening in thecylihdrica wall of the housing.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein saiddrum further includes a front face integrally connected to the drumperipheral face.
 5. The device of claim 4 wherein said rotating means isa knob positioned coaxially on the front face of said drum.
 6. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein said indicia means is a series of monthsconsecutively positioned so that the month begins alternately ondifferent days of the week.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein saidretaining means is a resiliently positioned flange extending radiallyinwardly from the cylindrical wall of said outer members.
 8. The deviceof claim 1 wherein said outer housing and drum are formed of syntheticpolymeric resin.